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Frost Mage DPS Starter Guide - Shadowlands 9.2
By Preheat
Last updated
2022/04/11 at 12:56 PM
View Changelog
Table of Contents
Quick Facts
Table of Contents
Guide Navigation
Welcome to our Frost Mage starter guide, which covers everything you need to start playing a new character in Shadowlands. While our other guide pages go into more individual detail, this simple starter guide covers all the basics in one place, whether you're a new Frost Mage, a returning player to Shadowlands, hardcore, or casual alike, it's the best place to get a beginners overview on the class. Included are basic talent builds, simplified rotations, stats, legendary recommendations, and more to get you started as quickly as possible.
Please keep in mind that this page is meant to get players started quickly as an introduction, and does not contain much in the way of detailed explanations, mechanics, competitive options, gearing, simulation comparisons, or nuance. For more in-depth information, including all those optimizations and more, check out the complete Frost Mage Guide pages linked in the navigation on the left-hand side of the page, and if you're leveling up in Shadowlands, you can take a look at our
leveling tips
.
Overview
NEW
NEW Patch 9.2 Changes
Best Covenant
NEW Tier Set Bonus
Gear
Talent Builds
Legendaries
Conduits
Kyrian
Necrolord
Night Fae
Venthyr
Pre-Patch
Starter Guide
Rotation, Priority, and Abilities
Advanced Concepts
Stats
Consumables
Macros & Addons
WeakAuras
Common Terms
NEW Castle Nathria Tips
NEW Sepulcher Tips
Mythic+
Common Questions
Mage Tower
Twisting Corridors
NEW Simulations
About the Author
This guide is written and maintained by Preheat, previously a World First raider and founding member of
Liquid
. Preheat mains Mage and has participated in the MDI and multiple Race to World First events over the past few years. He has also commentated multiple community events, such as the
Keystone Masters
,
BDGG
charity event, and
Liquid
Race to World First. For all things Mage, you can find him in his
Discord
, on
Twitter
, posting videos to
YouTube
, and streaming on
Twitch
.
Best Covenants for Frost Mages
Covenant swaps are now available. This is huge for Mages who have three good specs with three different covenants. This also allows for niche builds like Necrolord Frost for heavy AoE in Mythic+. The ability to swap Fire or Arcane with the preferred covenant is also a huge bonus.
As a quick recap, we've created the table below to highlight the notable differences between Covenants. Don't hesitate to click the headers to go to their respective guides!
Aside from
Grounding Surge
for Mythic+, all the Finesse and Endurance Conduits are interchangeable, depending on the fight/type of content you're doing. The below choices simply reflect the best all-round choices.
Best Frost Mage Covenants and Soulbinds for Raid
Single Legendary
Double Legendary
Venthyr
Theotar
Necrolord
Marileth
Necrolord
Marileth
Venthyr
Theotar
Best Frost Mage Covenants and Soulbinds for Mythic+
Single Legendary
Double Legendary
Night Fae
Dreamweaver
Night Fae
Dreamweaver
Necrolord
Heirmir
Necrolord
Heirmir
Covenant Choice Changes with Patch 9.2 for Frost Mage
In Sepulcher of the First Ones raid Frost Mages are recommended to be Venthyr starting off. With 2p unlocked, Necrolord pulls slightly ahead. Once covenant legendary is unlocked, Necrolord becomes the best pick. Frost Mage uses a lot of legendaries, all detailed below. Double legendaries don't affect our covenant choices beyond boosting Necrolord.
Best Frost Mage Covenants for Raiding
You can play whichever covenant you want, but for damage in the Sepulcher of the First Ones raid Frost Mages are recommended to be Venthyr and Necrolord. As explained above, with 2p unlocked, Necrolord pulls slightly ahead. Once covenant legendary is unlocked, Necrolord becomes the best pick.
The best Covenants for Frost Mage in Raid are Necrolord generally and Venthyr if you don't have either 2p or covenant legendary unlocked.
Best Frost Mage Covenants for Mythic+
In Mythic+ Frost Mages are recommended to be Night Fae.
The best Covenant for Frost Mage in Mythic+ is Night Fae in Patch 9.2. Necrolord is also strong, but
Deathborne
has a long cooldown.
Best Frost Mage Covenant
Kyrian Frost Mage GuideNecrolord Frost Mage Guide
Night Fae Frost Mage GuideVenthyr Frost Mage Guide
Best Frost Mage Legendaries
Generally the Frost Mage Legendaries are
Freezing Winds
generally and
Slick Ice
for Single Target. Frost Mage is very strong in AoE and will likely be the preferred spec for Mythic+. The
Frost Storm
and
Frost Storm
set bonuses are strong, especially in AoE, but ultimately don't affect our choices here.
Best Single Legendaries
Raid Legendary
:
Slick Ice
or
Freezing Winds
(rare cases)
Mythic+ Legendary
:
Disciplinary Command
or
Freezing Winds
for Night Fae,
Cold Front
for Necrolord
Best Double Legendaries for Frost Mage
Eternity's End allows players to wear two legendary items, instead of one, with a restriction. One of the two legendaries must be your covenant legendary, making covenant choice now also impacted directly by the strength of Covenant Legendaries. Double Legendaries become available during week 5, after completing its story chapter.
Best Double Legendaries
Raid Legendaries
:
Necrolord:
Slick Ice
&
Death's Fathom
for one to three targets
Necrolord:
Cold Front
&
Death's Fathom
for cleave
Necrolord:
Freezing Winds
&
Death's Fathom
for fights that mix both single target and cleave where
Deathborne
cooldown does not line up well. Also good for heavy movement.
Venthyr
:
Freezing Winds
or
Slick Ice
&
Sinful Delight
- Don't play Venthyr if you have double legendaries or 2p unlocked.
Mythic+ Legendaries
:
Night Fae:
Disciplinary Command
or
Freezing Winds
and
Heart of the Fae
Necrolord:
Cold Front
&
Death's Fathom
Triune Ward
buffs
Ice Barrier
to have all the barrier effects and increased absorption. Neat idea but offers no offensive capabilities. This legendary is very strong for PvP or questing.
Frost Mage Legendaries Guide
Best Frost Mage Talents
This is a well rounded talent build and one of the most commonly-used builds by Frost Mages. The setup can handle almost anything, but you can find a more in-depth look at individual talent swaps and situational recommendations on the Frost Mage Talent Guide.
Frost Mage Talents Guide
Frost Mage Stat Priority
Frost Mages primarily favor Critical Strike and Haste. Find out more about how stats work, including sample stat weights and scaling plots in the Stats Guide, or get an overview of gear to look for from dungeons and raids in the Frost Mage Gear Guide.
Critical Strike (Loses value as it goes up. Sim your own character.)
Haste
Versatility
Mastery
Critical Strike (from ~23% to 33.33%)
Critical Strike (after 33.33% - softcap)
Frost Mage Stats Guide
Frost Mage Enchants and Consumables
Cloak:
Enchant Cloak - Fortified Avoidance
or
Enchant Cloak - Fortified Speed
Bracers:
Enchant Bracers - Eternal Intellect
Chest:
Enchant Chest - Eternal Insight
or
Enchant Chest - Sacred Stats
(cheaper)
Weapon:
Enchant Weapon - Sinful Revelation
or
Enchant Weapon - Celestial Guidance
Ring:
Enchant Ring - Tenet of Haste
or
Enchant Ring - Tenet of Critical Strike
depending on Crit
Recommended gem:
Quick Jewel Cluster
or
Deadly Jewel Cluster
depending on Crit
Recommended weapon Buff:
In Shadowlands weapon oil is back.
Shadowcore Oil
is the prefered choice for Frost Mages.]
Recommended potions:
Potion of Spectral Intellect
/
Spectral Flask of Power
are generally your best combination.
Make sure to always have
Cosmic Healing Potion
on hand to use when you are low on health.
Frost Mage Enchants Guide
Best Frost Mage Rotation
This is a simple rotation for Frost Mages. More information using talent variations, cooldowns, and other advanced tips can be found in the Frost Mage Rotation Guide.
Use
Icy Veins
and
Frozen Orb
on cooldown.
Cast
Frostbolt
for
Fingers of Frost
and
Brain Freeze
procs.
Consume Brain Freeze with
Flurry
and then 2 x
Ice Lance
. Do this immediately after casting Frostbolt.
Use
Fingers of Frost
procs with
Ice Lance
.
Continue to cast Frostbolt, using Flurry, and Ice Lance to consume Brain Freeze and Fingers of Frost. If they proc together, prioritize Brain Freeze.
Frost Mage Rotation Guide
Back to Top
Our Frost Mage guides are always updated with the latest information from in-game experience, simulations, and logs; make sure to check our changelog to this page, by clicking on
View Changelog
at the top of the page. If you are interested in more in-depth Frost Mage guides for , make sure to browse the
Navigation Bar
below, and our list of
Related Guides
just beneath the
Table of Contents
.
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